Resource Guide & Assignments for Instructors to Use
CSN's One Book, One College (OBOC) program begins its fifth year of bringing the CSN community together by reading and discussing a single book! The selection for this 2020/2021 academic year is The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt. The book explores how to live a happier, more fulfilling life using 10 great ideas from psychology, philosophy, neuroscience, ethics and morality. It's a highly readable mix of enduring wisdom and modern scientific research.
If you want to learn more about the ten great ideas in the Happiness Hypothesis, visit the OBOC library resource guide. You'll find interviews with the author that you can watch or listen to in which he explains why he wrote the book, what it's about and summarizes a few of the great ideas. You can link to several chapters in the book or find out how to get a full copy.
The library resource guide includes relevant videos, articles, books and other sources arranged by chapter. General resources on positive psychology like the ebook Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman and theJournal of Happiness Studies are linked in the guide as well. A page of resources on race and happiness includes studies about race and well being, a Ted Talk on how racism makes people sick and articles that demonstrate how to address racism with meditation and inner work.
If you're an instructor and would like to incorporate a chapter or the entire book in your courses, the OBOC Committee has made it super easy for you this year! A Canvas shell has been loaded with ready to go assignments and resources for you to use. There are "20 Minute Topic" writing prompts, short videos for inspiration/encouragement, ideas for increasing engagement in the online classroom and step-by-step assignments with links to necessary materials like worksheets and videos. To be added to the course shell to start using everything, just send an email to Kody Lightfoot, chair of the OBOC committee: kody.lightfoot@csn.edu
An online CAPE session called, "Pursue Your Happiness: Easy Plug & Play Assignments and Practical Suggestions from CSN's One Book, One College Faculty to Help Students Pursue Their Own Happiness" is scheduled for Friday, August 24, 10:45 am to 12 pm. The workshop will offer a round table discussion and practical suggestions from CSN faculty Laura McBride, Melissa Giovanni, Jack Sawyer and Kody Lightfoot. The tenets of ancient wisdom explored in the book and how they intersect with understandings of human behavior from contemporary research will also be discussed. To register for the session, just login to GoCSN and click on the CAPE My Learning tile.
Visit the OBOC websiteto learn how to get involved in the program and for information on events and discussions related to the Happiness Hypothesis. Due to COVID-19 restrictions on social gatherings, most events this year will be online, but will still offer an opportunity to connect and discuss issues related to the book. The OBOC committee looks forward to helping the CSN community pursue happiness during a challenging academic year!